Professor Joseph Shield Nicholson was one of the founding committee members on Edinburgh School of Social Study and Training. He was Professor of Political Economy at the University of Edinburgh. Nicholson's principal work was Principles of Political Economy (published in three volumes, 1893–1901). Nicholson resigned his chair due to ill health in 1925 and died in Edinburgh on 12 May 1927.

Image source: National Galleries Scotland portrait.